Thin-Walled Structures 40 (2002) 183–197

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Steel bridge piers with inner cruciform plates

under cyclic loading
a,*
T. Yamao , K. Iwatsubo b, T. Yamamuro a, M. Ogushi c,
S. Matsumura d
a
Department of Civil Engineering and Architectures, Kumamoto University, Kurokami 2-39-1,
Kumamoto 860-8555, Japan
b
Department of Civil and Architectural Engineering, Yatsushiro National College of Technology,
Hirayamashinmachi 2627, Yatsushiro City, Kumamoto 866-8501, Japan
c
Shimizu Construction Co. Ltd., Ishiyama-Tera 1-2-3, Ohtsu-city, Shiga 520-0861, Japan
d
Graduate School of Science and Technology, Kumamoto University, Kurokami 2-39-1,
Kumamoto 860-8555, Japan

Abstract

The strength and ductility of steel bridge piers with inner cruciform plates were studied
experimentally and theoretically. Three types of specimens were investigated, one with an
ordinary stiffener, one with inner cruciform plates and one where the section is unstiffened,
were tested under a constant compressive axial load and cyclic horizontal loads. Elasto-plastic
and large displacement numerical analyses were carried out using the finite element package
MARC. The effects of using inner cruciform plates on the strength and ductility of steel bridge
piers were investigated where the height of the inner cruciform plate was varied in the box
section bridge piers. It was found that piers with inner cruciform plates show better perform-
ance than ordinary piers with regard to ductility and energy absorption capacity.  2002
Published by Elsevier Science Ltd.

Keywords: Steel bridge pier; Inner cruciform plate; Cyclic loading; Ductility; Energy absorption capacity

* Corresponding author. Fax: +81-96-342-3507.

E-mail address: tyamao@kumamoto-u.ac.jp (T. Yamao).

0263-8231/02/$ - see front matter  2002 Published by Elsevier Science Ltd.

PII: S 0 2 6 3 - 8 2 3 1 ( 0 1 ) 0 0 0 5 9 - 3
184 T. Yamao et al. / Thin-Walled Structures 40 (2002) 183–197

Nomenclature
b Width of plate
bs Height of stiffener
B Width of the base plate
C Specimen with the inner cruciform plates
E Young’s modulus
h Column height
h0 Height of cruciform plate
Hy Yield horizontal load
I Moment of inertia of a cross-section
My Yield moment
n Number of panels
N Specimen where the section is unstiffened
RR Width-to-thickness ratio parameter of plate panel
S Specimen with stiffener
t Plate thickness
ts Stiffener plate thickness
V Axial load
Vy Yield axial load
d Corrected horizontal displacement
dB Vertical displacement measured at the base plate
dm Horizontal displacement measured at the top of the column
dy Yield horizontal displacement
g/g* Rigidity of longitudinal stiffeners compared to a plate panel
g Relative flexural rigidity of one stiffener
g* Optimum value of g obtained from linear buckling theory
n Poisson’s ratio
q Rigid-body rotation of the column base
sy Yield stress

1. Introduction

The Hyogo-ken Nanbu Earthquake (January 1995) caused severe damage in a

great number of buildings, highway bridges and railway facilities. Local buckling
of steel plates was observed in many highway bridge piers and railway viaducts.
Because the previous seismic design code for steel bridge piers provided insufficient
capacity for tolerating such a strong earthquake, a number of research organizations
[1–3] have investigated experimentally and theoretically the stability and plastic duc-
tility of steel bridge piers. The Japanese seismic design code for Roads and Bridges
was revised in December 1996 [4]. In recent researches, various steel structures with
corner plates, compact sections, concrete-fill, double skin tubes, seismic shear walls,
 T. Yamao et al. / Thin-Walled Structures 40 (2002) 183–197 185

etc. have been proposed to improve the seismic performance of steel bridge piers
[5–10]. However, it is still necessary to develop steel bridge piers possessing higher
ductility at a lower cost.
This paper presents experimental and theoretical results of the effects of using
inner cruciform plates on the strength and ductility of steel bridge piers with a square
box profile. Inner cruciform plates are used to improve the ductility and strength of
steel bridge piers and have role similar to that of the shear wall used in earthquake-
resistant structures. In order to investigate the effect of inner cruciform plates on the
ductility and strength of steel bridge piers, four test column specimens were designed
according to current practices in Japan. Specimens with an ordinary stiffener and
inner cruciform plates and unstiffened sections were tested. Tests were carried out
under constant compressive axial load and cyclic horizontal loads. In addition to the
experimental study, each of the tested column specimens was analyzed by using the
finite element method for the same loading case. These numerical results are com-
pared with experimental results. The discussion is focused on the improvement of
ductility, strength and energy absorption of bridge piers

2. Test specimen

All test specimens were composed of SM490Y (JIS) 9 mm thickness steel plate.
A total of four cantilever column specimens were tested, one with a stiffener, one
with an inner cruciform plate and one where the section was unstiffened. Fig. 1
shows a schematic illustration of the test specimens. The measured dimensions of
the test specimens are shown in Table 1. Specimen types N and S are unstiffened
and stiffened box section columns, respectively. Types C-20 and C-40 are box sec-
tion columns with the inner cruciform plates where the heights (h0) of the inner
cruciform plates are varied by 20% (type C-20) and 40% (type C-40) of the column
height h (Fig. 1). The parameter for the width-to-thickness ratio of a plate panel
surrounded by longitudinal stiffeners used in Table 1 can be calculated as follows:

冪
b sy12(1⫺n2)
RR ⫽ (1)
t E 4n2p2
where b is the plate width, t the plate thickness, E Young’s modulus, sy the yield
stress, n the number of panels, n Poisson’s ratio, h column height (distance between
the base plate to the application point of the horizontal load), h0 the height of the
inner cruciform plate, bs the height of the stiffener, ts the thickness of the stiffener
plate and the inner cruciform plate, and g/g* the rigidity of longitudinal stiffeners
compared to the plate panel (g is the relative flexural rigidity of one stiffener and
g* optimum value of g obtained from linear buckling theory [11]). In this study, the
thickness ts of the stiffener plate and the inner cruciform plate are equal to the outer
plate thickness t. The mechanical properties and a stress–strain curve of the SM490Y
steel material obtained from the tensile coupon tests are shown in Table 2 and Fig.
2, respectively.
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Fig. 1. Test specimen: (a) cross-sections of specimens; (b) steel column with inner cruciform plate.

Table 1
Dimensions of test specimens

Specimens b (mm) t (mm) h (mm) h0/h×100 bs (mm) ts (mm) RR g/g*

(%)

Type N 198.5 8.7 940.0 0.51

Type S 199.3 8.7 940.0 52.0 8.7 0.25 3.36
Type C-40 198.5 8.7 940.0 40 8.7
Type C-20 200.0 8.7 940.0 20 8.7
 T. Yamao et al. / Thin-Walled Structures 40 (2002) 183–197 187

Table 2
Material properties

Thickness t 8.7 (mm)

Young’s modulus E 206,000 (N/mm2)
Yield stress sy 409 (N/mm2)
Yield strain ⑀y 0.00227
Poisson’s ratio v 0.29

Fig. 2. Stress (s) – strain (⑀) curve.

3. Test setup and test procedure

A schematic view of the test setup and the view of the experimental apparatus
are shown in Figs. 3 and 4, respectively. The end of the test specimen was anchored
to the base floor. The horizontal lateral load was applied by a servo controlled
hydraulic actuator (capacity = 490 kN, maximum stroke = ±100 mm) and the vertical
axial compressive load was applied by another servo controlled hydraulic actuator
of the same capacity. The horizontal load was applied to the test specimen through
a pin bolt, and was controlled by the tip displacement of the specimen. Applied
horizontal displacement was given according to the loading regime shown in Fig. 5
[2]. The magnitude of the constant axial load V/Vy (Vy = yield axial load) was 0.15.
At each cycle, the tip horizontal displacement was increased by a value of dy defined
by the following equation [1]
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Fig. 3. Test setup.

My Hyh 3
Hy ⫽ dy ⫽ (2)
h 3EI
where My is the yield moment and I is the moment of inertia of a cross-section.
Horizontal displacements of the test specimen were measured using dial gauges
at the top of the test specimen and at the base plate that were accurate to ±0.05 mm.
Longitudinal strains were measured using strain gauges attached to the flange panel
surfaces of each specimen. Fig. 6 shows the location of the strain gauges and dial
gauges.

4. Finite element analysis

The test specimens were analyzed using the finite element package MARC [12].
Numerically derived hysteretic curves and the envelop of the hysteretic curves were
compared with those obtained experimentally. The large displacement analysis was
carried out with the following main assumptions: (a) elasto-plastic materials were
used; (b) the von Mises yield criterion and kinematic hardening rule for cyclic load-
ing analysis are applicable; and (c) the shell element used in quad4 is divided into
five layers to analyze the development of the plastic zone.
The column is symmetrical about one axis with respect to geometry and support
conditions. Hence, only half of the test specimen was modeled in all cases. A typical
 T. Yamao et al. / Thin-Walled Structures 40 (2002) 183–197 189

Fig. 4. View of experiment apparatus.

finite element mesh used is shown in Fig. 7. The flange and web plates of the column
were divided into 10 and 5 elements, respectively, along the width and into 16 and
27 elements along the longitudinal axis of the column. In order to investigate the
ultimate strength and behavior of a steel bridge pier including failure caused by local
plate buckling, a small mesh size was chosen at the bottom part of the web and
flange plates and the inner cruciform plates. The material properties and stress–strain
curves are the same as those obtained in the preliminary test. The structural imperfec-
tions such as the initial crookedness of the plates and residual stresses were not
considered in the cyclic analysis. Because it was assumed that such imperfections
do not affect the hysteretic behavior of the bridge piers. The same load conditions
were applied as in the test, and a displacement control method was used to load
the specimen.
190 T. Yamao et al. / Thin-Walled Structures 40 (2002) 183–197

Fig. 5. Loading steps.

Fig. 6. Location of strain gauges and dial gauges.

5. Results and discussion

Fig. 8 shows the collapse modes for the four test specimens. In the unstiffened
and stiffened specimens (types N and S) local plate buckling was first observed in
the plate close to the column base immediately after the maximum horizontal load
was reached. The test specimens eventually loose their lateral resistance during cyclic
loading after the occurrence of either vertical cracking in the welds connecting the
 T. Yamao et al. / Thin-Walled Structures 40 (2002) 183–197 191

Fig. 7. Typical finite element meshes.

flange and web plate or horizontal cracking (fracture) in the welds between the web
and base plate. In contrast, slight local buckling deformations were observed in test
specimens C-20 and C-40 with inner cruciform plates adjacent to the base plate and
in the unstiffened panels where the cruciform plates are absent. The local buckling
deformations progressively grew and the lateral resistance of the specimen was lost.
In the case of specimen N, yield lines were first observed in the flange plate close
to the column base at a loading cycle of d=+3dy, and spread to the upper part of
the flange plate after continuing to the rest load step. At the loading cycle of d=+5dy,
the local buckling deformation occurred in the flange plate close to the base plate
(Fig. 5(a)). When the horizontal load was increased to d=+8dy, vertical cracking in
welds connecting the flange and web occurred and the strength deteriorated suddenly.
Typical local buckling modes in the shape of a sinusoidal half-wave were observed
in the flange and web plates close to the base plates.
Specimen S showed similar behavior with specimen N. At the loading cycle of
d=+7dy, slight local buckling deformations were observed in the flange plate and a
sound was heard suggesting that fracture of welds at the stiffened plate occurred.
When the horizontal load was increased to d=+11dy, horizontal cracking occurred
in the welds between the web and base plate, and the lateral resistance was suddenly
192 T. Yamao et al. / Thin-Walled Structures 40 (2002) 183–197

Fig. 8. Collapse modes: (a) type N (at +8dy); (b) type S (at +11dy); (c) type C-20 (at +11dy); (d) type
C-40 (at +9dy).

lost. A local sinusoidal half-wave buckling mode shape was observed in the panel
close to the base plate (Fig. 8(b)).
In the case of specimen C-20, at the loading cycle of d=+3dy, yield lines could
be seen not only on the plate adjacent to the base plate but also in the unstiffened
panels where the cruciform plates were absent. When the horizontal load was
increased to d=+7dy, slight local buckling deformations took place in the unstiffened
panels where the cruciform plates were absent. Fracture in the welds connecting the
flange and the web plate occurred at d=+11dy (Fig. 8(c)) and the horizontal load
dropped suddenly.
Specimen C-40 showed the same behavior with specimen C-20 until d=+3dy. How-
ever, when the load was increased to d=+9dy, a large cracking sound occurred and
a horizontal crack was observed along the welds between the web plate and base
 T. Yamao et al. / Thin-Walled Structures 40 (2002) 183–197 193

plate. Resistance against the horizontal force dropped suddenly at this point. Speci-
men C-40 showed very stable behavior and only slight local buckling deformations
were observed in the flange panels adjacent to the base plate (Fig. 8(d)). It was found
that the welds were very important for assuring high ductility. Fabrication welds
in the box-section columns with stiffening plates and inner cruciform plates was
hence important.
Specimen C can be expected to show similar behavior to the concrete filled col-
umns because inner cruciform plates work to improve local buckling strength of the
flange and web plate close to the base plate. However, it is necessary to determine
a suitable height for the inner cruciform plates in order to increase the ductility and
energy absorption capacity. From an economical perspective, specimen C-20 can be
manufactured at a lower cost because their volume is 1/3 that of the stiffener on
specimen S.
Since measured horizontal displacements of a test specimen are supposed to
include the rigid-body rotation of its base, the following correction was made to
measure the horizontal displacements:
d ⫽ dm⫺tan q·h (3)
where d is the corrected horizontal displacement (mm), dm the horizontal displace-
ment measured at the top of the column, tan q=dB /B, B the width of the base plate,
and dB the vertical displacement measured at the base plate. It should be noted that
q is an approximate expression for rigid-body rotation of the column base.
Horizontal load versus horizontal displacement hysteretic curves for all test col-
umns obtained by test and numerical analysis are shown in Fig. 9. Envelope curves
for these horizontal load–horizontal displacement hysteretic curves are shown in Fig.
10. In these figures, the horizontal load and the horizontal displacement are non-
dimensionalized using Hy and dy, respectively. From Figs. 9(a) and (b), and 10, it can
be said that the stiffened specimen S is more ductile than the unstiffened specimen N.
The experimental collapse curve (post peak) in the envelope curves show good agree-
ment with the numerical results, though the values from the numerical results tend
to give somewhat overestimated values. In the case of specimen C-20, however, the
horizontal load dropped suddenly due to local buckling deformations in the unstiff-
ened panels where there were as cruciform plates. Figs. 9(c) and 10 show that the
results of the numerical analysis show good agreement with the experimental results
as a whole.
As can be seen from Figs. 9(d) and 10, the test results for specimen C-40 where
strength and ductility were expected to be good do not show good agreement with
numerical results. The bad correlation was attributed to the occurrence of the crack
at the welds between the web and base plate. From these results, it was found that
the height of the inner cruciform plates and welding method had a significant influ-
ence on the ductility and strength of steel columns.
Fig. 11 shows the hysteresis loop area obtained from both the test results and
numerical results, namely the energy absorbed by each specimen at every load step.
It can be found that all test specimens have almost the same energy absorption
capacity up to a displacement of d=50 mm. However, the energy absorption capacity
194 T. Yamao et al. / Thin-Walled Structures 40 (2002) 183–197

Fig. 9. Horizontal load–horizontal displacement hysteretic curves: (a) type N; (b) type S; (c) type C-
20; (d) type C-40.

of specimen C-40 obtained by numerical analysis is greater than that obtained from
the test. Therefore, the column with inner cruciform plates where the height is larger
than 20% of the height of specimen, has improved the column’s ductility and energy
absorption capacity.
Fig. 12 shows the deformation mode (d=+10dy) of specimen C-20 obtained from
the numerical analysis. It was found that the deformation mode obtained by the
analysis showed good agreement with the experimental results shown in Fig. 8(c),
though fracture in the welds connecting the flange and the web plate occurred at
d=+11dy in the test.
 T. Yamao et al. / Thin-Walled Structures 40 (2002) 183–197 195

Fig. 10. Envelope curves: (a) experimental results; (b) numerical results.

Fig. 11. Energy absorption capacity: (a) experimental results; (b) numerical results.

6. Conclusions

Four specimens, one with an ordinary stiffener, one with inner cruciform plates
and one where the section was unstiffened, were tested under constant compressive
axial and cyclic horizontal lateral loads. Numerical analyses were carried out using
the finite element package MARC. From this study the following conclusions
were drawn:

(1) The box-section bridge pier with inner cruciform plates where the height is
196 T. Yamao et al. / Thin-Walled Structures 40 (2002) 183–197

Fig. 12. Deformation mode (type C-20 at +10dy).

larger than 20% of the height of specimen is effective for improving the ductility
and energy absorption capacity of a column subjected to such loading.
(2) The welding method is very important in assuming high ductility. Considerable
attention must be paid to welding in fabricating box-section columns with stiffen-
ing plates and inner cruciform plates.
(3) The results of a numerical (FEM) analyses of steel bridge columns with inner
cruciform plates subjected to repeated horizontal loads showed good correlation
with experimental results as a whole.

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